Sarasota Florida, Top Choice for Business Relocation
Entrepreneurs will tell you they locate businesses where an educated and creative workforce lives. Today's Sarasota County is a creative center that offers this environment. Educated and creative workers seek an area where talent, technology and diversity thrive. Our business community readily supports arts and culture, not only because people here enjoy music, dance, art and theater, but also because they understand that creativity is the incubator for innovative business development.
* Forbes Magazine named Sarasota the 44th "Best Place to Live and Do Business" out of the largest 150 U.S. Metro Areas (2003).
* Expansion Management Magazine has rated Sarasota a four star community, one of only two to achieve this rank in all of Florida (2003)
* Business Development Outlook Magazine has selected Sarasota as one of the "25 Choice Cities " - the most desirable cities into which a business can relocate or expand for 2001-2002. (November/December, 2001)
* Sarasota was ranked "37th Best Place for Business and Careers" out of 200 metro areas nationwide by Forbes Magazine. (May, 2001)
* Forbes Magazine named Sarasota the "47th Best Place for Business and Careers" out of the top 200 U.S. Metro areas.
* Employment Review and BestJobs.USA has selected Sarasota as the "Best Place in Florida to Live and Work" and the "3rd Best Place in the Nation to Live and Work." (June, 2001)
* For the third straight year, Expansion Management Magazine has chosen the Sarasota-Bradenton area as a "Five-star Community on their Quality of Life quotient - Best Places to Live and Work." (May, 2001)
* BizMiner Business Vitality Review ranked the Sarasota/Bradenton metro area as the "3rd Best Second-Tier Metropolitan City for Business Relocations Nationwide." It is ranked 1st in Florida. (May, 2001)
* Sarasota/Bradenton MSA received 5 stars (the highest rating) by www.bizjournals.com. (September, 2000)
* Sarasota County has been ranked among the country's best employment generators by DRI/McGraw-Hill and the University of Arizona.
* PC World and Money Magazine named Sarasota as the "23rd Best Place for Telecommuting" (working from home).
* The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked the Sarasota/Bradenton area "3rd in the Nation in Job Growth."
* A New Business Opportunity Index developed by two professors in the College of Business Administration at the University of Texas at El Paso ranks Sarasota "7th among 316 Metropolitan areas in the U.S." for a variety of key conditions that positively influence business climate.
* Money Magazine placed Sarasota Schools in the "Top 100 in the Nation" as well as naming the Sarasota/Bradenton area as the"21st Best Place to Live in the U.S.", and one of the "Top 20 Places to Retire."
Employment Summary
Year Labor Force Employment Unemployment Rate % (Annual)
2002 160,765 155,318 3.4
2001 159,716 155,302 2.8
2000 154,026 150,835 2.1
1999 152,524 149,277 2.1
1998 143,857 140,286 2.5
1997 144,229 140,456 2.6
*Source: Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation Florida Research & Economic Database
Hourly Earnings For Workers In Select Occupations
Occupation Entry Experienced
Accountants & Auditors 15.31 28.37
Assemblers/Fabricators 7.68 10.65
Computer Operators 8.41 11.83
Computer Programmers 16.78 32.87
General Manager/Top Executives 16.25 47.71
Grader, Bulldozer & Scraper Operators 10.31 14.67
Janitors/Cleaners 6.31 10.81
Laborers/Landscaping & Groundskeeping 7.01 10.79
Machinists 10.19 16.80
Mechanical Engineers 18.64 30.74
Medical & Clinical Lab Technicians 10.02 16.84
Manager/Administrators 15.15 34.36
Payroll/Timekeeper Clerks 9.35 13.55
Procurement Clerks 9.12 12.90
Purchasing Agents 13.30 23.94
Receptionist, Information Clerks 7.35 11.92
Secretaries 8.76 13.48
Sheet Metal Workers 7.94 16.92
Stock Clerks 7.41 10.81
Tool & Die Makers 14.98 23.63
Truck Drivers (Light) 8.70 14.54
Systems Analyst 17.12 33.04
